if it's me... reading OR writing... my preference is (if there's established canon) that the story/timeline stay as close to what really happened as possible. Of course things are a bit blurry pre-nsync, which is both easier and harder, imo. (canon slut, here, yo)

do you have specific events in mind, hon? I saw your answer above, to Saturn... because I have passing fair knowledge of some of the pre-nsync stuff, and know of some good archive reference sources, too.

Let me know! :)